Mercedes Armas Bach, Retired Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit, Florida, has extensive experience mediating complex civil disputes and is well regarded for her fairness, diligence, and efficiency in handling a wide variety of matters including business/commercial, construction, employment, family law, insurance, intellectual property, personal injury, professional liability, and real property actions. 

Ms. Bach brings to her ADR practice at JAMS 17 years of experience from serving on the Florida Courts in Dade County and 13 years in private law practice. A veteran mediator, Ms. Bach puts disputing parties at ease with her calm demeanor and warm disposition to effect settlements. She is trained in mortgage foreclosure mediation. Additionally, Ms. Bach is fluent in Spanish.

Download Mercedes Bach's biography in Spanish

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• As a private mediator, extensive experience mediating complex civil, probate, and family matters
• Served as special master for discovery, hearing master for multi-million dollar construction bid and grant protests and has served as a court appointed trustee
• Served as umpire/appraiser in first-party insurance property claims
• Presided over hundreds of jury trials, thousands of bench trials and dispositive motions
• Trained in Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation at Collins Center

Representative Matters

• Business/Commercial
Breach of contract, breach and dissolutions of partnership and joint venture agreements, fraud, non-competes, civil theft and conversion, breach of fiduciary duty
• Construction
Commercial and residential disputes, defects and delays, workmanship and materials, breach of contract, mechanics lien, fraudulent liens, lis pendens, escrow and deposit disputes, pre-construction disputes
• Consumer
Unfair deceptive trade practices, breach of dealer sale/lease agreements, fair credit reporting and collections, stolen and forged checks
• Employment
Claims involving unlawful termination; racial, gender, and sex discrimination; hostile work environment; wage and hour disputes: and Title VII claims
• Family Law
Child and spousal support, custody, guardianship, termination of parental rights, marital settlement agreements
• Insurance
Coverage, bad faith, first-party claims; mediated or has served as a Neutral Appraisal Umpire in over a hundred cases involving property damage (storm/water, wind, mold) mostly resulting from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma
• Intellectual Property
Trademark, copyright, and license disputes; trade secrets; non-competes
• Maritime/Admiralty
Jones Act and seaman claims, cruise ship passenger personal injury claims
Personal Injury: Automobile and motorcycle accidents resulting in death and catastrophic injury, premises liability, negligent security, construction accidents
• Probate
Will contests, beneficiary disputes, accountings, guardianships, claims and liens, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud
• Professional Liability
Negligence resulting in death, serious injury, failure to diagnose/treat
• Real Property
Purchase and sale disputes, misrepresentations and non-disclosures, broker entitlement to commissions, partition of real property interests, fraudulent liens, lis pendens , commercial and residential foreclosures, lien foreclosures, commercial lease disputes

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS
• Leadership Award, Conference of County Court Judges
• Co-Chair, Education Committee, Conference of County Court Judges
• Associate Dean, College of Advanced Judicial Studies
• Faculty, New Judges College
• Faculty, College of Advanced Judicial Studies
• Faculty, The Conference of County Court Judges
• Supreme Court Appointed Mentor and Mentor Trainer, Supreme Court Judicial Mentoring Program
• Adjunct Professor of Law, teaching Trial Advocacy, Florida International University
• Co-Chair, International Judges for National Association of Women Judges Conference
• Admitted to Court of Military Appeals, 2005
• Former member, Florida Bar Committee on Professionalism
• Former board member, Miami Civic Music Association
• Life member, Young Patronesses of the Opera and awarded the Gold Star of the Year for Service
• Extensive presentations at bar associations and law firms

Background and Education

• Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation, Collins Center Trained  
• Senior Judge, Florida Circuit Courts, served in Civil, Criminal, Family, Juvenile, and Domestic Violence Divisions, 2008-2012
• Judge, County Court, Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, 1995-2008
  • Administrative Judge, County Court Civil Division: served as Associate Dean of Advanced Judicial Studies, Faculty of New Judges College, Co-Chair of the Education Committee of the Conference of County Judges, Florida Bar Committee on Professionalism, and presented at the Miami Beach and South Dade Bar Associations; Co-Chair, Eleventh Judicial Circuit Technology Committee, 1997-2008
• Private law practice, Mercedes Armas, P.A., 1979-1992
• J.D., University of Miami School of Law, 1979
• B.A., magna cum laude, University of Miami, 1976